I've studied the film industry, both academically and informally, and with an emphasis in box office analysis, for 28 years. I have extensively written about all of said subjects for the last ten years. My outlets for film criticism, box office commentary, and film-skewing scholarship have included The Huffington Post, Salon, and Film Threat. Follow me at @ScottMendelson and "like" The Ticket Booth on Facebook.

The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

'Star Trek Into Darkness' Blu-Ray Punishes The Fans

How much does it cost to acquire the “complete” Star Trek Into Darkness blu-ray and how much effort does it take to enjoy it? That would normally seem like an odd question, but Paramount’s inexplicable release strategy has left Trekkies and general blu-ray completists scratching their heads in confusion and frustration. You see, unlike most blu-ray releases, where the studio puts the respective bonus features either on the disc that every consumer can buy from every outlet, Paramount has done something… a little silly. They have spread out the available special features into several different retail outlets. So basically, if you want the “complete” American Star Trek Into Darkness blu-ray, you have to buy it twice. Oh, and you can’t even enjoy some of those features on your television.

Offering an exclusive bonus disc to a consumer if you buy a given film at one specific store is not new. However frowned upon it might be, it isn’t that much of a headache to, for example, buy Disney’s The Avengers at TargetTarget instead of Best BuyBest Buy or Amazon in order to get a 90-minute documentary that isn’t available anywhere else. It’s annoying, as when Paramount put most the deleted scenes of Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol in the Best Buy bonus disc, but most studios at least have the decency to usually keep their content-related exclusives (as opposed to special packaging) to a single establishment. What Paramount has done is an enhanced variation of this kind of release pattern. They have offered a near-barren disc for Star Trek Into Darkness and instead offered the various special features as exclusives at two different retailers.

Now, for those who only care about the film itself, the “regular” 2D release looks and sounds absolutely spectacular. The film was shot on old-school 35mm 2.35:1 Panavision and, for selected scenes, 65mm IMAX film and it looks stunning. But for those who want copious special features, you will be disappointed. On the standard release, you get 42 minutes of mostly solid documentary featurettes, eight in all, including an amusing seven-minute bit where the filmmakers try to justify their pointless inclusion of a certain major character from the prior canon. And that’s pretty much it, save for a PSA for a group called ‘The Mission Continues‘, which helps returning war veterans re-acclimate to civilian life through service projects. There are no trailers, no deleted, scenes, and no commentaries on the standard release disc.

If you must buy only one version of Star Trek Into Darkness, get the Target disc. The disc set contains the feature on a separate disc, with the 42 minutes of bonus features from the normal release, as well as thirty minutes of additional featurettes, along with the domestic trailer campaign, which is a nice touch. Unlike a certain retailer I’ll get to in a minute, at least Target’s retail exclusives are disc-based. The Target version has the film on one disc by itself, along with all of the respective bonus material on its own disc. The “exclusive” material is obviously cut from the same cloth as the national release material, which makes it all the more obvious that this was one big set of featurettes that were arbitrarily (and randomly) split up over three “versions” of the film. But at least the Target material is actually on the disc itself.

Unlike the Canadian Best Buy version, the American Best Buy bonus content isn’t disc-based. It’s only accessed through their online service CinemaNow. One can’t just go onto CinemaNow and watch the stuff either. You have to actually get an account with them first. Because if there is anything consumers like more than having to purchase multiple copies of a disc to view the complete available content (six featurettes totaling 31 minutes), it’s being forced to watch that content on a computer monitor for optimum playback. Now I was able to watch this material on my PlayStation 3, but it was a choppy image, with no subtitles, muffled audio, and an inability to skip from chapter to chapter. It’s sad that I would give a retailer bonus points for merely including its exclusive features on an actual disc, but that’s where we are in the “Target vs. Best Buy” competition at the moment.

Now if you’ve bought both retail versions for approximately $40 plus shipping or taxes, you’ve got the film itself, the three American trailers, and about 105 minutes of relatively solid bonus material. But the adventure is not over yet, folks. Because here’s the goofiest and most frustrating part of this release pattern. There actually is a commentary track for Star Trek Into Darkness - a pretty darn good one no less. But it is only available as an iTunes download. The good news is that the retail version comes with the iTunes download, meaning you don’t have to buy the film a third time to get that commentary track. The bad news is that it’s once again a major bonus feature that isn’t on the disc or even on a bonus disc. Not only is it a commentary track, but it’s a full video-based commentary track, a separate video file that is filled with talking heads and behind-the-scenes footage that runs nearly 30 minutes longer than the actual 132 minute feature. But you can’t watch it on your television and you have to sign up for an iTunes account and then download the hefty file before you can watch it on your computer.

These kind of ‘movie-in-movie’ commentary tracks show up on blu-ray discs all the time (think the last few Harry Potter films), but not this time. Here’s the real irony: the picture-in-picture mode also includes the film in its intended shifting-aspect ratio, so the scenes that were filmed on 1.66:1 IMAX cameras now fill your more of your screen accordingly. That’s great, but it would be even greater if you could watch that IMAX-enhanced video commentary on your big-screen 1080p HDTV. Because, as we all know, nothing brings out the awesome grandeur of IMAX like viewing it on your computer monitor or an AppleApple-compatible smartphone (sorry Android users). Not only did Paramount not include the video-based commentary on the disc, they provided it on the one format that the majority of consumers won’t be able to watch on their TV. Not only did Paramount not include the IMAX version of the film on the disc, but they included it as part of a video commentary that cannot be watched as the film itself and that most people will be unable to watch on a television.

I get the idea, however theoretically mean, of splitting up the bonus features so that hardcore Trek fans have to buy multiple copies to get the complete version. But the extras are split up and spread out in a way to make them difficult to access even if you did shell out the necessary cash, lacking even the ease of switching discs. Even if you buy the Best Buy version and the Target version, you still can’t watch the Best Buy bonus material without using CinemaNow. And while you don’t need to buy it separately, you can’t even watch the iTunes-only video commentary, which presents the film in its IMAX aspect ratio, on a television unless (I presume) you have Apple TV. So of the four major portions of bonus features, two are simple and disc-based while the other two require online accounts and/or long downloads, and the potential inability to actually watch them on your television, depending on compatibility. I’d argue the extra expense, which is really only an extra $20 plus tax or shipping, pales in comparison to the extra inconvenience that Paramount will be causing its fans.

Star Trek is the kind of franchise for which the fans will crave the most complete versions of the newest incarnation and will still devour any and all supplements offered. What Paramount has inexplicably done here is basically punish the fans both for their love of Star Trek and the general consumers who still prefer the physical media that everyone tries to claims is dead. As a combined package, with nearly two hours of documentary footage, the full domestic trailer set, and a video-based commentary, the Star Trek Into Darkness blu-ray is a relatively solid package. Coupled with a superb audio/visual presentation of the main feature, it is lacking only deleted scenes and/or various bells-and-whistles (like a gag reel) to round it out. It’s just a darn shame that Paramount has made it so difficult, both in terms of expense and convenience, for fans and general consumers to actually enjoy the package they have created for us.

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All the more frustrating is that if you pony up the 30 bucks for the deluxe 3D package, it doesn’t appear that you get any of the exclusive features despite the fact I bought it at Best Buy.

Another interesting thing is that the disk includes a digital download for both iTunes and Ultraviolet, but you have to choose which one to use. This is the first time I remember being presented with the choice. I actually had to think about it for a minute and I chose ultraviolet because it works on my Roku and IPad. Then the Ultraviolet wouldn’t accept the download code so I went back to apple where it worked perfectly.

You made a classic rookie mistake. Don’t EVER buy DVD’s from Best Buy. Why? Because they consider DVD movies to be software. There’s a strict no-return policy for software. If you accidentally got the regular DVD instead of Blue-Ray, don’t like the extras, whatever…you’re not returning anything. Best Buy is a garbage company and it’s crashing. It may take a few years, but that company is not facing economic, marketing, or management reality. Like Circuit City before them, they’ll just fade away.

Gene Roddenberry created a positive and compelling vision of the future with the original Star Trek. Later iterations have seemingly devolved as Paramount has taken greater control of a product that is incredibly lucrative to a studio that has few franchises. The blu-ray strategy is indicative to how the studio sees the fan base: as parent basement-dwelling nerds with disposable incomes and the obsession to own every single variant of a product or tech-savvy upper-middle class singles with a love of gadgets–in any event, as human ATMs. The blu-ray situation is emblematic of how Paramount sees Star Trek: get a popular, if over-rated writer/director/producer with no love or knowledge of Trek, give him free rein to create a glitzy, effects filled spectacle that substitutes familiar characters played by talented actors for coherent storytelling and milk a Trek-starved public for every last cent. If George Lucas could do it, so could Paramount. Star Wars fans own three or four versions of the trilogies in formats from VHS to blu-ray; Paramount will try that model with “Into Darkness” to boldly go into the black.

I guess the studios are looking for more ways to maximize their profits and what better way to do this than targeting a series whose followers are so fanatical that documentaries have been made about them. I know this current version of STAR TREK will never have the same following as the original series but the hardcore fans will always want their collections to be ‘complete ‘. I enjoyed film also but I have never cared for extra features on any disc, so I can wait a few more months and buy it from big-box store’s budget bin or recoded it off a premium channel.

OK…the action in ITD was good…I just hated the whole Wrath of Khan reboot.. as did many fans…so I don’t think I need to hunt down extras that won’t make the films any better. It’s like Star Trek V extras…won’t help

The easy solution is to purchase NONE of the items, sending Paramount the message that their idea of “treating” its customers is totally off-base. Buying any of these items can be used by Paramount to justify this mistreatment of the people who put the company where it is. Don’t reward it.

Why would anyone need to buy blurays these days in the first place? I can watch it via Amazon Instant Video in HD for $4.99. I might watch it again in a year or two and by then, it’ll be on Netflix and I can watch it for free.

I’ve watched Star Trek since the original series came out in the 60′s and frankly while there were a few movies that were outstanding most of the movies of the Star Trek franchise were at best acceptable. Into the Darkness was one of the worst, more similar to a transformers movie than Star Trek. Paramount has been abusing Star Trek fans for over 40 years so this latest tactic is not surprising. But I’m perplexed that anyone would want to purchase any copy of the STID Blue Ray disk regardless of the quantity or lack thereof of bonus features.

which is why most people download stuff for free , besides which these new films are not for the fans they are for the masses as they are full of violence and sexual images which is completely opposite to what Gene Roddenberry wanted for StarTrek , i cant wait until these rubbish films end and a new series begins.

Or just skip it altogether. Abrams just doesn’t get Star Trek. It’s a pale imitation that fell flat, a blockbuster action film trying to be Star Trek. The actors do a great job of portraying these classic characters, but the script is a bland rehash with nothing new to add to the original (except “super blood”, which is almost as bad as midichlorians). It’s a rerun. The scene between Spock and Kirk at the end in the original moved me to tears. This one lacked any kind of emotional impact.

Yar har fiddle deedee being a pirate is alright with me! Do what you want cause a pirate is free, you are a pirate!

By submitting to this shady and disrespectful move towards fans, and then having the gall to approve it, makes me in no way want to buy this because doing so would validate pathetically greedy behavior. Will not buy it.

Greed pure and simple. Today’s film industry has been crap for years. Why not cash in on the suckers who have been paying for sub-standard entertainment. Paramount simply took a page out of the George Lucas promotional strategy: milk the fans for every penny you can get from multiple releases which basically shows the same thing anyway. What can you do.

This is why people turn to Piracy. While I was in the service, I sat in a briefing regarding how to avoid pirated movies (As it would look bad if military members were fined or jailed for having illegal goods) The way we were told to tell if the disk was a pirated copy, is if it had all regional codes, features and languages unlocked, more content, a cheaper price with the advertising and annoying stuff removed. Everyone was scratching their heads. The briefer even stated that yes, the pirated copy is better in every way. But it’s illegal.

I had no idea. I bought the movie on iTunes weeks ago. I had not idea I was missing anything but I did get it a long time ago already. I assume I can find that additional content online, maybe even Youtube. Maybe someone will be nice enough to make a torrent. If you own the movie I doubt they can sue you for getting a special feature. That would be bad PR.

What really gets me is that JJ Abrams admitted that he used the lens flare effect too often in his first Star Trek prequel, and he even apologized for it. So what does he do in Into Darkness? He does it again!! The head of the studio needs to put him on a three-lens-flare limit. Or better yet, just find another director.

Kinda reminds me of the days when we’d buy the “anthology” CD of some great artist. Later the “best of” CD came out. Later again, the “greatest hits” CD would come out. We’d end up with multiple copies of 3 or 4 songs.

This is probably the only time I can ever remember being glad I do not have blue ray for my big screen without the pain of hooking up my laptop to it.

I thought this movie was wonderful and eventful. From the moment it started until it ended I was sitting on the edge of my seat not daring to go get a snack because I might missing something.

I would be entirely upset to purchase a movie with special content, paying extra for that content, only to find out I had to logon to an online service to view the extra content. That would be about the time I started calling someone. (who I’m not sure, but someone)

Then to find out about all the issue you mentioned above. It’s almost unbelievable. But there is ONE THING I can guarantee. I will not have my shopping locations dictated to me by any company. I just won’t. I do without first.

Seems like this article says there is deleted scenes. Albeit, I am not sure if you need to buy this from xbox or just have to watch it on dvd and view the special features on your xbox and (must be) from a windows 8 smartglass device.

Oddly enough, that is (seemingly) the only article, written a month ago, to even acknowledge this feature. Did it actually occur, has anyone actually used it and/or reviewed it? You’d think it would have come up during the various Blu Ray reviews that littered the net a few weeks ago. Interesting.

Recently I got a copy of the 4 disc set from ecrater.co.uk and it was worth the money. It also features ultra hard to find deleted scenes from XBox smartglass and almost a 1000 awesome press photos. The studios should put together releases like this one, not that retailer mumbo jumbo with just a few minutes of extras!